Rob Paternostro says he is pleased that his side are playing at home this weekend. The Riders had a mixed weekend last weekend, with an emphatic win against the Guildford Heat at home followed by a 113-111 loss at Worcester, whom they face on Saturday night at home in the BBL Cup.

Paternostro was quick to state the importance of the game being at home, and the role that the fans play at the John Sandford Sports Centre, but also asked for more consistency from his side: ‘We are struggling with consistency right now, from quarter to quarter, half to half and game to game. It’s early in the season, so hopefully with more games we can become more consistent’ he said: ‘This weekend is huge for us with a big Cup game at home versus Worcester. It will be great for us to play in our building’ he added: ‘The atmosphere in there this year has been brilliant. We feel very comfortable playing there and I know our guys are looking forward to that game.’

Echoing his sentiments is Newcastle Eagles player-coach Fabulous Flournoy, who is brimming with confidence about his side’s chances against Cheshire Jets this Sunday, the third and final Cup game of the weekend. The Eagles also welcome the Sheffield Sharks to their home court on Saturday and Flournoy is relishing the chance to get his side back on point, despite being unable to play himself due to a broken finger.

He said: ‘We are always pretty good at bouncing back from defeats, as we showed by beating Everton after losing in overtime to Guildford, and although the game against Cheshire will be tough because of a smaller bench, we have only lost four times in the last three seasons at home, so we would challenge anyone to try and beat us on our home court.’

Although the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders have only walked out of a game as winners once in the league this season, they will be looking to continue their fine Cup form when they welcome the Marshall MK Lions to the Plymouth Pavilions on Saturday evening. They won their first Cup game against the PAWS London Capital by 85 points to 80 earlier this season, and also come into the game off the back of their first league win, a 96-95 overtime victory against Newcastle.

Their opponents, the Lions, also went into overtime last weekend, as they beat the Sheffield Sharks 98-89 at Bletchley Leisure Centre. They also beat the Essex Pirates 62-57 on Saturday and their success continued into the week, as Vince Macaulay was named Molten BBL Coach of the Month. Riders point guard Tack Minor also saw his blistering form rewarded with the Molten BBL Player of the Month Award.